Making feed go farther

[Lkelley1]

Can I mix cracked corn or scratch with the layer feed to make it go farther?

 

[HeritageGoose13]

Yes. Eating corn raises their body temperature. I think adding scratch in the summer would be good and then switch to corn in the winter.

 

[islafarm]

You could ferment their food too - stretches it, ups the digestible proteins, strengthens the birds. Some good threads on it on the forum, Beekissed has a good link also in her signature to s good method and summary

 

[donrae]

Thing is, layer is already about the bare minimum for protein levels for a producing bird. If you cut that with even lower corn, you're quite likely to see a drop in condition and/or production. Everyone has minimum protein requirements to stay healthy and active.

 

[islafarm]

Is non medicated chick starter more expensive than layer feed? If not you could use that thinned with corn and make sure you have plenty of calcium 'side dish'. Ferment!! Depending on your time / situation you may want to look at growing other food sources like fodder, duckweed/azolla, raising mealworms etc., All these things take a bit of working out and effort though. Might not work in every situation.

 

[Lkelley1]

Thank you all so much, don't know what i'd do w/o my byc family!

 

[flurry37 2001]

hi , try to find a gamefowl feed it is complete with everything your fowl need , cracked corn only holds its value for four to five days then it`s just a filler as hay would be to a horse , whole corn or popcorn is very good in the colder months. depending on the size of your fowl 3 oz of feed a day is plenty for a 4 lb to 5 lb . bird of gamefowl feed ....... the gut fat in your fowl will slow everything down as thay get older . thank`s mike

 

[Lkelley1]

Great info, thanks everyone!